General Motors announced today they will cut production in the first quarter of 2009 by 250,000 units, or approximately 30% of total capacity, affecting 21 plants in three countries.

This news follows the failure of the auto industry aid bill and news of other automakers slashing production. General Motors blames the "speed and severity" of the Carpocalypse. The list includes more than a dozen of the company's US plants. The cuts cover a wide range of vehicles, including nearly every truck line in addition to cars like the Chevy Malibu, Saturn Aura, Pontiac G6 and Cadillac CTS.

DETROIT - General Motors announced today a significant reduction of planned production for the first quarter of 2009 due to the ongoing and severe drop in industry sales, which were down 36 percent in November overall and 41 percent for GM (2007 vs. 2008). The impact of these and recently announced actions to adjust production with market demand, will result in the temporary idling of approximately 30 percent of GM's North American assembly plant volume during the first quarter of 2009 and will remove approximately 250,000 units from production.

The speed and severity of the U.S. auto market's decline has been unprecedented in recent weeks as consumers reel from the collapse of the financial markets and the resulting lack of credit for vehicle financing.

The following U.S., Canada and Mexico operations impacted by today's announcement include: